Peanut buttered mash

Ingredients 1 tsp peanut butter for every potato.

Preparation: 20 minutes

Over the years I have shared many mash recipes on this blog. Whether potatoes or other root vegetables, whether herby, garlicky, buttery, cheesy, spicy or creamy - mashed potato is the food of the Gods. When I was recently sent some luscious Whole Earth peanut butter, I knew it would add a great salty richness to my mash. I tried this with and without adding regular butter and honestly it's delicious either way so this is vegan friendly.


1) Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks and bring to the boil in a pan of water. Leave to simmer until soft (about 20 minutes depending on how small you cut your potatoes) then drain away the water through a colander.

2) Using a potato ricer, masher or food processor, mash the potatoes and stir in a teaspoon of peanut butter for every potato before serving hot.

Peanut butter & honey fudge

Ingredients 100g butter, 475g muscovado sugar 125ml milk, 200g peanut butter (I used Whole Earth 3 nut butter), 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 400g icing sugar, 3 tbsp honey.

Serves: like, an army Preparation: 10 minutes plus chilling time

Fudge is just one of those things which is good in small doses... yet in order to make it one must make an awful lot of it. Even with the addition of peanut butter to cut the intense sweetness, this is still awfully rich. Therefore in the run up to Christmas - why not make some treats for the people that you love?

1) Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the muscovado sugar. Once it has melted completely, add the milk and bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

2) Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla essence and honey.

3) Fill a bowl with the icing sugar and pour in the fudge mixture. Beat until all of the icing sugar has melted, then pour into a baking dish and chill in the fridge until firm before cutting into squares.

Peanut butter bread

Ingredients 500g strong white bread flour, 7g yeast, 100ml apple juice, 200ml milk, 2 tbsp peanut butter (I like Whole Earth peanut butter), olive oil.

Preparation: 3 hours minimum

That phrase "the best thing since sliced bread" is such a misnomer. Anyone who makes their own bread will agree that the worst thing to happen to bread was the Chorleywood bread press. Processed bread has no soul and if you care about what you put in your body you will be horrified to read the ingredients on your shop-bought bread and discover that it's not just flour, yeast, salt and water but a whole host of preservatives, rising agents, bleached flours and even bread flavourings! It makes a person wonder if the reason we are the generation of food intolerances that you never heard about from our ancestors is because the food we eat bears such little resemblance to actual food.
But hippie rant over... this recipe makes utterly delicious bread. Fact!

1) Warm the milk gently in a pan, stirring the peanut butter into it until melted, then add the apple juice. If you want to use chunky peanut butter, this will leave you with a bit of texture in your bread - but sieve the chunks from the milk to add back in later.

2) By hand: Sift together the flour and yeast in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly add the milk mixture, stirring with a spoon until a sticky mass has formed. Tip out onto a work surface and rub your hands with olive oil. Work the dough - kneading and stretching out the glutens in the flour until you have a silky, smooth ball of dough that is no longer sticking to the work surface. By processor: add your dough hook attachment and add the ingredients. Personally I still think this dough benefits from being hand manipulated but if you prefer to use a machine that's up to you! If you are using chunky peanut butter, at this stage add the chunks back to the mixture by flattening out the dough a little, tipping them on and then working the dough back into a ball to spread them out evenly

3) Rub your hands and a clean bowl with a little olive oil, stroke the surface of the dough until lightly oiled and then add to the bowl. Cover with cling film or a plastic bag and leave somewhere warm for about 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

4) Turn the dough out onto a work surface and "knock it back" - this doesn't mean pummel it violently, it means deflate it gently with your fingertips and then form it back into a ball for a second rising in a proving basket.

5) After knocking back the dough, you can leave this for a third or fourth rising (this gives it a better texture and flavour, but honestly this means staying in the house almost all day!) or get baking. Slash the top of the bread twice to allow it to rise, then boil a kettle of water and pour it into a roasting dish. This needs to go on the bottom of your oven to keep it steamy and moist. Now pre-heat the oven to 9 or 10 (basically your highest setting!) with a tray or baking stone in the oven and quickly transfer your ball of dough onto the baking tray/stone and shut the door.

6) After 8-10 minutes, turn down the oven. If a dark crust is forming quickly then bake for 40 minutes at gas mark 3. If it has just begun to colour bake it for 30 minutes at gas mark 4. If the dough looks the same colour then your oven is rubbish (sorry! Buy an oven thermometer and this will really help) and you will need to bake it for 40 minutes at gas mark 6.

7) When your time is up, carefully take the bread from the oven and shut the door to keep the heat and steam in, in case it needs further baking. You'll know it's ready if there is a firm crust on the top and the softer bottom sounds hollow when you tap it. Transfer to a cooling rack and don't be tempted to carve straight into it because you'll squish it and the remaining moisture in the dough will create a soggy layer at the bottom which will never go away. Sad bread. SAD BREAD! Once the bread has cooled for 20-30 minutes and is no more than a little warm to the touch you can dig in!

This makes amazing toast, lovely bacon and fried apple sandwiches but personally I like it spread with a good chocolate hazelnut spread.

Peanut butter & banana porridge

Ingredients Porridge oats, milk (I like almond milk), peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), honey (or agave syrup), banana

Preparation: 10 minutes

This hardly seems worth writing as a recipe as there really isn't much cooking involved, but as a combination that everyone should try... my god yes!
The salty, heady flavour of peanut butter, the gooey banana which melts into the porridge and that extra sweet contrast of the honey makes this the ultimate breakfast for me. Especially on a snowy day like today.

1) Add the milk and oats to a pan and stir on a low heat for 5 minutes, allowing the oats to swell with milk and form porridge.

2) Slice 1 banana per person and add to the porridge along with a tablespoon of peanut butter per person. Stir through and serve drizzled with honey.

Peanut butter & banana flapjacks

Ingredients 1 banana, 2 tbsp peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup peanuts, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, tsp honey (or agave syrup).

Serves: 8 Preparation: 20 minutes

These are without a doubt the world's best banana and peanut butter flapjacks. Chewy and crunchy and sweet and savoury... and surprisingly healthy as baked goods go!

1) Mash the banana and peanut butter with a fork and add in the other ingredients

2) Using a tablespoon, portion out the flapjacks and drop onto baking parchment. I think these work best as rough cookie shapes because they crisp up better, but you could spoon onto a tray and cut out flapjack bars.

3) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees

Satay green beans

Ingredients Green beans, 1 tablespoon peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), 1/2 lemon, chilli flakes

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes

Satay sauce is scrumptious and so simple - just 3 ingredients and a little stirring  and any vegetable, meat or noodles can be transformed into a delicious dish.
I especially love sexing up green beans with this sticky, spicy goodness. 

1) Parboil the green beans in hot water for 2 minutes, then strain and add to a wok with a squeeze of lemon juice.

2) Add the peanut butter and stir through on on a gentle heat for 5 minutes until all the beans are coated.

3) Stir through the chilli flakes, to taste, and serve hot.

Spicy peanut & butternut squash soup

Ingredients 1 butternut squash, 1 tablespoon peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), 1/2 pint vegetable stock, chilli flakes

Serves: 2 preparation: 35 minutes

I love soup. I find all the chopping, stirring and pureeing very soothing, the warm smells that fill the house comforting, and I love ladling out steamy bowls of soup for people to dunk hot crispy bread into, dressing it with ever more creative croutons or swirls of cream and yoghurt. This soup is velvet smooth, voluptuously thick and has a fabulous kick of chilli and savoury peanut butter to match the clean sweetness of the butternut squash.

1) Peel and the butternut squash, discard the seeds and cut into chunks. Roast in the oven in a covered dish at 200 degrees for 25 minutes.

2) Strain the butternut squash (do not discard the juice) and pulse thoroughly in a blender. Add the pureed butternut squash and juice into the vegetable stock along with the peanut butter and summer for 5 minutes.

3) Season with salt, black pepper and chilli flakes before serving.

Peanut buttered sweet potatoes

Ingredients 2 Sweet potatoes, peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), honey (or agave syrup), olive oil

Serves: 2 preparation: 20 minutes

Peanuts with their salty, slightly bittersweetness bring out the natural sweetness of the potatoes and give them an almost powdery, velvet crust. These make a great topping for Mexican mole.

1) Slice the sweet potato thinly with a mandoline, or carefully with a knife.

2) Smooth the peanut butter over each slice with your fingers and arrange in a roasting tray. Drizzle with a little honey and olive oil.

3 Roast in the oven for 15 minutes until the edges crisp.

These go wonderfully as a topping for Mexican Mole with a little soured cream.

Peanut buttered parsnips

Ingredients Parsnips, peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods).

Preparation: 1 hour

I adore parsnips - such a spicy, earthy flavour which caramelises perfectly when roasted. Peanuts with their salty, slightly bittersweetness bring out the natural sweetness of roast parsnip and give them an almost powdery, velvet crust.

1) Rinse but do not peel the parsnips, then slice into chunks. Smooth a thin layer of peanut butter onto each side of the parsnip with your fingers.

2) Roast in the oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour at 200 degrees until the insides are fluffy and soft and the outsides begin to crisp.

Peanut butter & banana sandwich filling

Ingredients   Peanut butter, honey, banana

Serves: 1 Preparation: 5 minutes

I made an Apple & Cinnamon loaf this week and have been fiddling around with serving suggestions for quick snacks. Just when I thought that French toast was the perfect solution I hit upon the gorgeous combination of sweet and savoury to make this lovely, simple filling. 

1) Peel a small, very ripe banana and mash it in a bowl with a fork.


2) Add a tablespoon of peanut butter (crunchy or smooth) and half a teaspoon of honey and mix through with the fork until combined.
3) Spread onto the bread and serve!

Chicken satay

Ingredients   Chicken, broccoli, bell pepper,     noodles, peanut butter (I like Whole Earth Foods), sherry, dark soy sauce, white wine vinegar, basil oil, cayenne pepper.

1) Scoop 3 tablespoons of peanut butter into a pan and allow it to melt. Stir the chicken pieces into the peanut butter and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.


2) Add 2 tablespoons of basil oil, a tablespoon of sherry, a tablespoon of dark soy sauce and a tablespoon of white wine vinegar to a wok. Add the chicken and stir through for 10 minutes.


3) Cut the florets from the broccoli stalk and put in some water to boil.


4) Slice a bell pepper and a handful of mushrooms and add to the pan with the chicken. Stir fry for a further 10 minutes then add the noodles. Stir fry for 5 minutes, drain the broccoli and stir it through before serving.